In this chapter, Davis Schneiderman revisits William Burroughs’ “Playback Trilogy” – The Job, The Electronic Revolution, and The Revised Boy Scout Manual – as a critical lens for understanding the contemporary challenges posed by generative artificial intelligence, misinformation, and deepfake media. Arguing that Burroughs’ theories of language, media manipulation, and technological control anticipate core dynamics of AI’s influence on culture and perception, Schneiderman explores how Burroughs’ experiments with tape recorders and playback foreshadow algorithmic systems that operate with unintended, emergent consequences. Situating Burroughs’ techniques alongside cybernetic theory and the escalating crisis of automated media, the chapter assesses Burroughs not only as a prophetic figure but also as a practical theorist of language systems gone rogue. From deepfakes to AI chatbots inciting violence, Schneiderman demonstrates that Burroughs’ methods – cut-up, disruption, playback – remain urgently instructive for resisting the logic of control in the digital age.

This chapter explores the transformative impact of the digital sphere and artificial intelligence (AI) on environmental communication. The rise of digital platforms has significantly influenced how environmental issues are communicated, promoting awareness, fostering engagement and mobilising action. The first part of the chapter discusses the role of social media and influencers in shaping environmental discourses and collective identities. The second part examines the opportunities and challenges posed by AI, highlighting its potential to analyse large datasets and personalise engagement while also addressing issues pertaining to reliability and the spread of AI-enabled misinformation and fake news. The environmental costs associated with AI technologies, such as high energy and resource consumption, are also explored. The chapter underscores the dual nature of digital technologies, emphasising the need for critical engagement to ensure that technological innovations support environmental justice without exacerbating existing problems.

A hallmark of wise deliberative spaces is their commitment to truth-seeking, in contrast to “post-truth” contexts where emotional appeals and personal beliefs are more important than objective facts. Chapter 5 explores how post-truth thinking has been fueled by cognitive elites across the political spectrum and traces its roots to postmodernist ideas. The chapter reviews philosophical definitions of truth, contrasting idealist and coherentist views with realist theories, specifically correspondence, semantic, and pragmatic approaches. It draws on Hilary Putnam’s concept of natural realism to argue that objective truths do exist – depending on the domain of inquiry – but only if we distinguish between what is true and what is merely believed to be true. Postpositivism supports this by recognizing an external reality while acknowledging that our knowledge is fallible and evolving. Biases, though inevitable, can be countered through reflexive and communal inquiry. Ultimately, the chapter argues that wisdom lies in understanding the nature of different kinds of inquiry – scientific, moral, or otherwise – without falling into the trap of relativism.

Reading proficiency does not end once a reader can fluently decode a writing system. Literacy acquisition is a continuum that progresses from basic script decoding to efficient access and retrieval of information, to the ability to integrate and interpret embedded content within texts. At the highest levels, literacy involves critical reflection and the evaluation of complex texts, taking into account cultural, historical, societal, social, and power structures that may influence or obscure the validity of the information. Reaching these advanced levels of literacy requires regular engagement with sophisticated texts, along with the development of strong critical thinking and reasoning skills.

In Chapter 10, we advance concrete ideas that peace and social activists are invited to adopt when interested in using personal narratives of genocide and/or intractable war in intergroup processes of sustainable peacebuilding and reconciliation. Our suggestions draw on conceptualizations discussed in the book, as well as recommendations derived from previous on-the-ground experiences in such contexts. Our proposals focus on the following four arenas: (1) intergroup methods for moving from narratives of distancing to narratives that encourage peacebuilding; (2) ways to deal with social forgetting and “dangerous memories” of genocide and intractable war in peacebuilding efforts; (3) how to deal with fake news, denial of atrocities, and distancing narratives in reconciliation endeavors; and (4) concrete suggestions for pursuing peace with personal narratives of genocide and war when the macro-social level is sabotaging peace efforts.

This chapter reviews the regulation of disinformation from an African human rights’ law perspective, focusing on the right to freedom of expression and the right to vote. It provides an overview of the African regional law framework, specifically the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights of 1981 (the African Charter) and corresponding jurisprudence. The chapter also analyses the way in which freedom of expression and disinformation laws have been applied in African countries, the aim being to contextualize and illustrate how African regional law plays out at the domestic level, but with an emphasis on the position in South Africa.

Despite Kenya’s transformative and progressive 2010 Constitution, it is still grappling with a hybrid democracy, displaying both authoritarian and democratic traits. Scholars attribute this status to several factors, with a prominent one being the domination of the political order and wielding of political power by a few individuals and families with historical ties to patronage networks and informal power structures. The persisting issues of electoral fraud, widespread corruption, media harassment, weak rule of law and governance challenges further contribute to the hybrid democracy status. While the 2010 Constitution aims to restructure the state and enhance democratic institutions, the transition process is considered incomplete, especially since the judiciary’s role of judicial review is mostly faced with the difficult task of countering democratic regression.

In the digital age, the landscape of information dissemination has undergone a profound transformation. The traditional boundaries between information and news have become increasingly blurred as technology allows anyone to create and share content online. The once-exclusive realm of authoritative media outlets and professional journalists has given way to a decentralized public square, where individuals can voice their opinions and reach vast audiences regardless of mainstream coverage. The evolution of the digital age has dismantled the conventional notions of journalism and reshaped how news is obtained and interpreted. This shift has paved the way for the proliferation of fake news and online disinformation. The ease with which false information can be fabricated, packaged convincingly and rapidly disseminated to a wide audience has contributed to the rise of fake news. This phenomenon gained global attention during the 2016 US presidential election, prompting nations worldwide to seek strategies for tackling this issue.

The issue of mass disinformation on the Internet is a long-standing concern for policymakers, legislators, academics and the wider public. Disinformation is believed to have had a significant impact on the outcome of the 2016 US presidential election. Concern about the threat of foreign – mainly Russian – interference in the democratic process is also growing. The COVID-19 pandemic, which reached global proportions in 2020, gave new impetus to the spread of disinformation, which even put lives at risk. The problem is real and serious enough to force all parties concerned to reassess the previous European understanding of the proper regulation of freedom of expression.

Chile’s regulation of fake news dates back nearly a century. The initial instance occurred in 1925 during a constitutional crisis that resulted in the drafting of a new constitution. At that time, a de facto government issued a decree making it illegal to publish and distribute fake news. The second regulatory milestone occurred during the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet with the inclusion of provisions related to defamation in the 1980 constitution. Defamation involved spreading false information through mass media to unjustly tarnish someone’s reputation. Upon the restoration of democracy in Chile in 1990, these stipulations were permanently abolished from the legal system. Since 2001, the judicial pursuit of disinformation in Chile has been limited to exceptional means such as the State Security Law or, indirectly, through the right to rectification.

This chapter explores the erosion of trust in public facts and the crisis within commonsense conceptions of reality. It traces the evolution of scientific practices, emphasizing the role of early experimental scientists like Robert Boyle in grounding them. Ezrahi argues that the contemporary breakdown of epistemological norms, which previously upheld facts as sociopolitical currency, inevitably undermines the foundations of contemporary democracy. The citizens' diminished confidence in understanding why political actors behave in specific ways, coupled with the disparities between motives and visible effects, fosters the proliferation of conspiracy theories. The current breakdown of epistemological norms manifests itself in the “post truth” era and the ascent of “alternative facts.” Ezrahi scrutinizes the challenges of discerning facts from opinions in journalism and underscores the perils of exposure to fake news. The chapter investigates the erosion of a shared commonsense perception of reality through the lens of the Brexit campaign and the Trump presidency. Ezrahi highlights that the blurring of the cosmological dichotomy between Nature and humans has made it increasingly challenging for the public to differentiate between facts and fiction. Finally, he advocates for an awareness of the public’s role in defining political causes and facts.

This chapter introduces the reader to the topic studied in the book, factual misinformation and its appeal in war. It poses the main research question of who believes in wartime misinformation and how people know what is happening in war. It then outlines the book’s central argument about the role of proximity and exposure to the fighting in constraining public misperceptions in conflict, and the methods and types of evidence used to test it. After clarifying some key concepts used in the book, it finally closes with a sketch of the manuscript’s main implications and an outline of its structure and contents.

The online sphere is a relatively new space and as such is much less regulated and policed than the offline world. This also means that rights are less protected online than they are in the physical world. Online harassment, hate speech, and misinformation via echo chambers, filter bubbles, conspiracy theories, and fake news have received increasing attention. Free internet access requires that users are reasonably protected by public authorities from such rights violations. The chapter looks at this problem from the perspective of three necessary elements required for the enjoyment of all rights: (1) rights enforcement, (2) an environment conducive to rights, and (3) education and skills training. In terms of enforcement, public authorities face the problem of having to identify often anonymous individual offenders without undermining general internet user anonymity. With respect to a safe environment, the chapter focuses on political polarisation and to what extent online misinformation is responsible for it. Finally, the chapter sets out certain skills that states ought to teach their citizens so they are able to defend themselves against attacks by other internet users.